Anyone not feelling supported by TA?

[alfiemama]

We have brought D's review of his statement forward as not been doing very well with coping with the transition from reception to yr1 (he repeated reception). We had a meeting with the school, who have said they will support us in going for full 1-1. My concern is that his TA (he currently has 17 hours, mainly mornings due to asd) doesn't seem to support us. I have felt for a while that she thinks we are making a mountain out of a mole hill, as D's is relatively good at school. We have been told by child physc this can be normal, some asd children separate home and school. I thought for a while that it could be me being paranoid but hubby has now taken over school run (as due baby 3 soon) and he said he feels I was right all along, and now feels that his TA could totally kibosh our meeting in October.

Any idea's anyone on how I can make this TA see that, over 2 years of being observed, ADOS and regular child physc meetings have all been for a reason and not us being over sensitive parents.

In the past she will dismiss things we have said by saying her children do the same, when I said, I don't want my D's lost in the afternoon, she said "he wouldn't be lost" but then admitted later on she had never seen him in the afternoon.

I am just not sure how to approach this with her as she seems in hubby's words as so wishy washy, no fight or balls in her .

I'm actually wondering if she understands d's condition and maybe thinks of just classic autism.

I'm not sure how things are organised in your dc's school, but know that where I work the key person to discuss these issues with is senco / and or head. You can get great TA's but some have not received much training and may not know a great deal about the specifics of complex difficulties like ASD etc. It is not your job to convince her; she is paid to support him, not to decide how much support he / she is to receive. I would focus on discussing your concerns with senco / head and other professionals involved with your dc. It might be that you could suggest a change of TA. I suppose there could be other reasons for her to seem to dismiss your concerns - is there any chance she is saying these things to be positive / encouraging about him?? I sometimes find that people gloss over issues because they don't want to upset parents. Hope the meeting goes well for you.

Thanks Cansu. She is a relatively new TA but really doesn't seem to understand what makes him tick, and possibly out of her depth.

My son doesn't come back from lunch without asd (I wish lol) but receives no support in the afternoon, hence us trying to get him more support. He has a processing delay and learns by having things broken down for him. In the ADOS report it highlights that if he doesn't know he would sit and struggle rather than approach someone.
Surely the LEA don't make the decision for a child to repeat a class lightly.

Have to admit not got great confidence in the senco as she has told us things that we have found out not to be correct.

I agree Cansu, at first I thought maybe she was trying to gloss over things and make us more at ease, however we are approaching her and saying we need your help, this is what we want and we need your support.

One of Alfie's main areas of concern is socially and how he deals with things, he may fly academically but we need someone who understands how he thinks about things, and why he does things, which is clearly different to us. I have no doubt she is a good TA but worry is she a good sen TA.

I don't know maybe a ms school isn't right for him.

Thing is, with ASD, unless you live it, like you do, others do not see the full extent of the difficulties.

Of course, he may well be OK in the afternoons at school as it's probably mainly play. But of course, how constructive is that play? Is he learning from it like the other kids? Possibly not. He needs supported play and turn taking games with his peers which require negotiation by an adult.

17 hours 1 to 1 is not really enough, imo and I would say ms was the place for him, but with the right support.

Thing is, you've got the paperwork from qualified professionals. She has her opinion. I would kick and scream until his hours are increased and he has more 'solid' 1-1.

We have 20 hours statemented for ds (6) but only recently has he really been getting them. School thought he was OK to be left and then they freaked out when he had a meltdown... . I think previously his TA had been working with a group of other children (and I know this kind of stuff happens as I am a teacher myself...)

Oh and it's worthwhile pushing for some sensory OT stuff in the review. Don't ask you don't get!!!

Kick some butt!!

Hi spinkle, funny you should say that about TA, she has been helping a group of children, but at the moment in his statement it says 17 hours min in a group of no more than 6 children.

Too true about them not being able to understand, I just wish I could make her see lol.
Alfie was having OT had 2 blocks of 8 intense sessions, but mainly pencil grip etc. He is very sensory so would definitely benefit from this, I will defo be asking about this thanks, I didn't know it existed.

Would they maybe tackle things like hand flapping etc? I know some sen schools encourage children to control this without stopping altogether, as I believe this is wrong as they need the release. But this is quite severe and would think when he is older will be bullied for this.

Kick, some butt, they wont know whats hit them

I was thinking of the OT in terms of finding out if he has any sensory issues. Tackling some of these can help enormously, I hear. So sounds, sights that challenge him could be minimised. Once tackled, it can allow him to concentrate on other stuff like people, for instance.

I'm sure someone far more knowledgeable could point you in the direction of a book on this. Though, with a baby on the way, you may not have time to read up!!

Sensory trained OTs are very hard to find. Someone from the local Autism centre told me of a checklist I could fill in. If it pointed to sensory issues then I should take it to the statement review and this should encourage them to seek out an initial sensory assessment with an OT. Will find a reference for you.

It wouldn't tackle hand flapping though I wouldn't have thought. We get a fair amount of stimming, mostly in the evenings. Personally, I don't care if my ds flaps - he also makes a strange noise. I think if he does it then he clearly needs it. We have a rebounder (like a mini trampoline) in the living room. A quick bounce here and there gets rid of a lot of his tension.

Thanks spinkle, if you could find a reference, that would be great, as I feel this would help immensely, he definitely suffers from sensory overload, his sense of smell is very heightened, noise is a major problem, often resulting in him putting his hands over his ears and shouting "too much noise" and his sense of touch, resulting in him hating having his hair brushed or washed, and, well many, many more.

I agree I don't have a problem with the hand flapping and feel you shouldn't try and stifle this, as this is part and parcel of the condition, for him anyway, but it does seems to be becoming more frequent. I just worry how he will feel at high school, unfortunately children can be cruel as we all know.

Unfortunately the rebounder is a no go for us, as D's also has hyper mobility and very lax joints.

The person you need to read is Olga Bogdashina. She theorises (sp?) that the sensory issues cause a lot of the outward autistic benhaviour. This notion is gaining more popularity amongst experts, I believe.

The most recent book (I'm hoping as I've just ordered it from Amazon) has a checklist in it which can be used.

All parents of ASD kids worry about teasing etc. But I would add that kids can also be more accepting of difference than many many adults. My ds is generally treated with kindness by his peers - but I think this was helped by his teacher explaining to the other kids that he was just 'wired differently' to them.

Alfiemama..does your area have outreach autism service to help train TAs and teachers? Agree with previous posts talk to SEN or head. TA is not qualified to make comments, should be more supportive and be giuded by professionals opinion.

Thanks spinkle, sounds just what we need, I will have a look.
Luckily ds is very well liked amongst his peers he is also 6, and hopefully when he goes into high school, there will be more of an understanding, I know tv these day are trying to show this side also.

Kurly, not sure to be honest, but this will be something I will asking, thank you.

Spinkle, just googled and found this, thought may be useful for you also and any others with sensory issues.

www.thedancenterforautism.com/BCATSensoryDefensivenessOccupationalTherapyTomatisBerardAITAutismADHDABA.html

There is a large checklist to the bottom.

If you have had a dx then your school should have had a visit from Autism outreach service in your area.

If school are struggling then tell them to look at the Autism IDP (Inclusion Development Programme) which is downloadable from the internet.

Thanks for that link, btw. Addressing sensory stuff may go some way into making the ds' lives a lot easier.

Gotta keep trying

Exactly got to be worth a go.
Not sure senco knows what she is doing to be honest, she hasn't ever mentioned Autism outreach service, but I will definitely be looking into this.
She said the Seno was determined by the schools area not by our address (as we had moved recently) but even seno said she should know its through the child's address not he schools, sent us on a right merry dance